This project examines attitude change between 1981 and 2001 for a population of young, well educated Canadians, employing evaluation, potency and activity (EPA) semantic differential ratings of approximately 800 social identities. This comprises my larger data set. I also employ a smaller subset of 102 social identities drawn from the larger data set to explore changes across three points in time (1981, 1995, and 2001) for 102 social identities, supplementing my analysis across two points in time (1981 and 2001) for 800 social identities. The objectives for this dissertation are: (1) to assess stability of attitudes for social identities over time; (2) to identify and describe patterns of change in identity attitudes and to connect observed changes in identity attitudes to historical events, and to social and cultural change in Canadian society; (3) to explore the extent to which identities that cluster together in EPA space define social institutions; and (4) to explore how changes in identity attitudes affect role expectations over time. Despite significant shifts in attitudes for a number of identities, approximately 80% of identity attitudes remained stable over time, confirming findings from past research that cultural sentiments are slow to change. Observed changes could be connected to social and cultural structure. Specifically, dramatic changes occurred for religious and sexual preference/orientation identities. Numerous religious identities decreased on evaluation for male respondents between 1981 and 1995 and then were restored to earlier levels by 2001. Female respondents were not as forgiving and 1995 decreases in evaluation were sustained. These changes are connected to increased secularization and earlier sexual scandals in religious institutions. Sexual preference/orientation identities increased significantly on evaluation for both males and females. However, increases for females were more dramatic and occurred across all three points in time while changes in attitudes for males occurred between 1981 and 1995 and then changed little between 1995 and 2001. These changes can be connected to numerous factors, including the increased visibility of gay/lesbian culture in mainstream media and the absence of a strong anti-gay counter movement. Although social identities clustered in interesting ways, cluster analysis was not very successful in defining social institutions. Computer simulations revealed how role and behaviour expectations change with changes in identity attitudes. For example, there is obvious increase in evaluation between 1981 and 2001 for the behavior of a police officer toward a homosexual. This dissertation concludes by addressing methodological issues such as sample size and generalizability. It is suggested that the corpus of identities should be continually updated to include identities that are emerging from pop culture. Finally, four areas of future research are suggested: (1) a continual monitoring of cultural sentiments; (2) a more detailed focus on individual social institutions; (3) a confirmation of computer predictions with qualitative interview data; and (4) identifying the implications of this research for trend analysis. Practical implications of this dissertation research include the use of computer simulations of identity-role processes in the areas of education and policy research.

Finance taught in schools generally starts with the efficient market hypothesis, which holds the assumptions of rational investors and markets where all information available is reflected. In recent years however, a lot of critique has been given to efficient markets and its assumptions of rationality. The greatest reason to this is because of crashes and irregularities in the market. The field of behavioural finance has been in existence for many years but is not as established as the efficient market hypothesis. It says that investors may act irrational and are mostly trying to explain the reasons why. People’s behaviour is being closely studied in order to see patterns of behaviour and this has resulted in different heuristics and biases. Heuristics are instances that come to mind when making a decision and differ a lot depending on what kind of decision you are making. Since there are many different heuristics, this thesis only focused on one: the affect heuristic. The method was constructed in a specific way in order to show if the students showed affect in their answers. Also, a check for home bias was made. This thesis presents the behaviour of two different groups of students, finance students from Sweden and MBE-students from Germany. It was proved that both of the groups were acting irrational in their investment decisions. The reason to their irrationality is both because the method was constructed in a way to strategically mislead them but also because of the data collection. There were also some differences noticed depending on age groups, former studies in finance and work experience in finance. The affect heuristic was clearly shown in the answers by both groups of students. A home bias was also noticed in the answers. It was proven that 10,3 percent of the Swedish students invested in Swedish companies in both their first and second choice, even though the three best companies were German. None of the German Students decided to invest in a Swedish company in both the first and second choice.

Det har ofta antagits att en anställd är lycklig därför att han eller hon är framgångsrik. Det finns dock studier som stödjer den alternativa hypotesen, nämligen att lycka är en anledning till varför vissa anställda är mer framgångsrika än andra. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka huruvida lyckliga anställda är mer produktiva och framgångsrika än mindre lyckliga anställda. Det genom att undersöka om personligt disponerad positiv affekt (TPA) kan predicera arbetsprestationer. Deltagarna var 98 anställda, varav 60 kvinnor, som rekryterats från sex organisationer. Resultaten gav stöd åt undersökningens samtliga hypoteser och kan därmed indikera att anställda med högre TPA presterar bättre, har högre lön och mer socialt stöd från arbetskamrater och chefer. Detta betyder att TPA kan leda till gynnsamma resultat för såväl den anställda som för organisationen och att lyckliga anställda kan antas vara mer produktiva och framgångsrika än sina mindre lyckliga arbetskamrater.

Drawing from the vast literature on stigmas, theories of status generalizations and affect, this study employs a formal framework to delineate among different kinds of stigmas and different processes by which they might operate. This study then considers the case of a particular type of stigma, a behavioral stigma, a label that is obtained from past behavior. The formalization distinguishes how knowledge of a particular type of stigma operates through group members who then cast an “other” into a stigmatized role with special attention to affect and behavior of the stigmatized individual and the other group members. Additionally, I am able to study the developmental process of stigma because, in the particular theoretical case I consider, the stigmatized individual is initially unaware of the stigma. The findings indicate that stigma were created and did have an effect on individuals and groups. While the observable power and prestige effects were much more pronounced for measures of content versus measures of amount of interaction stigmatized groups were characterized by more disapproval, fewer agreements and more interruptions than were nonstigmatized groups. Further, those who were stigmatized had less influence than other group members. In terms of feelings, there was support for the hypotheses suggesting that stigmatized individuals rate both themselves and their groups more negatively than do nonstigmatized group members. Also, those who were not stigmatized rated the stigmatized person more negatively than others. While there were no significant differences between Stigmatized and Control groups relative to happiness or group cohesion and efficiency, those in the Control groups were more committed to their groups than were those in the Stigmatized groups. This study contributes to the large literature on stigma by examining one kind of stigma. It also contributes to several established literatures in social psychological theory. This study has implications for the power of the social construction of stigma and consequently for the power of social construction in the dismantling of stigma.

Eating disorders and borderline personality disorder involve several overlapping features, such as impulsivity, negative affectivity, and dissociation. However, few studies have specifically assessed how eating pathology and borderline personality may be related. The present study sought to evaluate this relationship by focusing on one particular area of overlap, negative affectivity. A pilot study assessed the psychometric properties of a dietary restraint measure among undergraduate women (N = 149). In the main study, undergraduate women (N = 307) completed a baseline mood assessment, then viewed a 39-minute sad film either with or without concurrent food presentation. Participants then completed a second mood assessment, and those who received food completed a third mood assessment following a 10-minute post-reflection delay. Results suggest that women reporting more borderline features exhibited greater negative affect across three different time points (baseline, post-movie/food, and post-reflection period), and were more reactive to the sad film. Food presentation appeared to have a small tempering effect on sadness, such that individuals who received food reported relatively less sadness after viewing the film when compared to those who did not receive food. However, actual quantity of food consumption was associated with improvements in mood only for women reporting higher levels of borderline features. Finally, highscorers on dietary restraint measures consumed greater quantities of food than their lowscoring counterparts. In sum, these data suggest that women with borderline personality features may be at elevated risk for developing problems with binge-eating, as consuming larger quantities of food appeared to have a tempering effect on their negative mood and specific feelings of sadness. Further, results are consistent with earlier findings in that reported efforts to restrain dietary intake were associated with greater food consumption in response to negative affect, and this relationship may need to be addressed in treating individuals with problematic eating behaviors.

Highly affective memories have been thought to be longer lasting and more detailed than other memories, and many experimental results have supported this assertion. The apparent robustness of these memories, however, may result from their high distinctiveness, rather than their emotional content. Two experiments tested free and cued recall for negative affect, distinctive, and neutral paragraphs. Experiment 1 compared neutral and negative affect paragraphs using a blocked and recovered memory technique. Affective paragraphs were remembered significantly better than neutral paragraphs in free recall of paragraph titles, regardless of condition. Details of neutral paragraphs were remembered significantly better than affective paragraphs, regardless of condition. No recovery effect was found. Experiment 2 compared distinctive and neutral paragraphs using the same technique. Free recall of paragraph titles did not differ between paragraph types. Neutral paragraphs were remembered better than distinctive paragraphs in cued recall, regardless of condition. Participants remembered significantly more with cued recall, and significantly more in the forget condition, and distinctive paragraphs were subject to a much greater forgetting effect than neutral paragraphs. It is unclear why a robust forgetting effect, using these stimuli, was not found. Consistent with previous literature, affective stimuli were remembered well, but inconsistently, distinctive stimuli were not. These results provide support for the claim that negative affect memories are more robust than other memories. This may result from their inherent emotional content as opposed to their being distinctive in some way.

Research has found that positive affect broadens attention. However, the type of positive affect previously manipulated has been low in approach motivation. High approach-motivated positive affect should reduce the breadth of attention, as organisms shut out irrelevant perceptions and cognitions while they approach and attempt to acquire desired objects. Three studies examined the attentional consequences of approach-motivated positive affect states. Consistent with predictions, participants showed less global attentional focus after viewing approach-motivating positive pictures as compared to neutral pictures (Studies 1 and 2). Specifically, Study 1 used approach-motivating pictures of appetitive desserts, while Study 2 used pictures of cute animals. Neutral pictures were of varying neutral objects. Study 3 manipulated both affect and approach motivation. Less global focus was found for participants who viewed the approach-motivating pictures and had the expectancy to obtain the items as compared to other participant groups. The results indicate that high approach-motivated positive affect reduces the breadth of attentional focus, in contrast to the broadening of attentional focus that has been found with low approach-motivated positive affect.

This study applied Andersen??s social cognitive paradigm for the experimental study of transference to the problem of understanding transference effects on the affective interactions and clinical inferences of student physicians with standardized patients. The investigator designed a 2X2 experimental study in which the independent variables were: source of information for statements about a standardized patient (participant??s own or matched participant??s) and valence of information in statements about the patient (positive or negative). Dependent variables were: affect expressed by a student physician in videotapes of a medical interview with a standardized patient, as measured by a modified version of the Specific Affect ?? 16 code system (SPAFF-16), and clinical inferences by the student physician as measured by the Physician Clinical Inferences Scale (PCIS) developed by the investigator. Covariates included gender, physician verbosity, and intergenerational family relationship variables as measured by the Personal Authority in the Family System Questionnaire ?? Version C (PAFS-QVC). A 2X2 MANCOVA was conducted, along with hierarchical regressions of gender and PAFSQVC variables as predictors of negative and positive affect and clinical inferences (likelihood of treatment success and patient as partner). One sample of undergraduate medical students (n= 71) provided data for the study. Results indicated no statistically significant differences between experimental groups regarding the effect of the experimental manipulation of patient information on student physicians?? affective interactions and clinical inferences with patients when gender, physician verbosity, and related PAFS-QVC variables were controlled. Hierarchical regression analyses of gender and related PAFS-QVC variables onto positive affect, negative affect, clinical inferences (patient as partner) and clinical inferences (likelihood of treatment success) revealed statistically significant effects of intergenerational family relationship and peer relationship variables on student physicians?? affective interactions and clinical inferences with patients.

Drawing from the vast literature on stigmas, theories of status generalizations and affect, this study employs a formal framework to delineate among different kinds of stigmas and different processes by which they might operate. This study then considers the case of a particular type of stigma, a behavioral stigma, a label that is obtained from past behavior. The formalization distinguishes how knowledge of a particular type of stigma operates through group members who then cast an â otherâ into a stigmatized role with special attention to affect and behavior of the stigmatized individual and the other group members. Additionally, I am able to study the developmental process of stigma because, in the particular theoretical case I consider, the stigmatized individual is initially unaware of the stigma. The findings indicate that stigma were created and did have an effect on individuals and groups. While the observable power and prestige effects were much more pronounced for measures of content versus measures of amount of interaction stigmatized groups were characterized by more disapproval, fewer agreements and more interruptions than were nonstigmatized groups. Further, those who were stigmatized had less influence than other group members. In terms of feelings, there was support for the hypotheses suggesting that stigmatized individuals rate both themselves and their groups more negatively than do nonstigmatized group members. Also, those who were not stigmatized rated the stigmatized person more negatively than others. While there were no significant differences between Stigmatized and Control groups relative to happiness or group cohesion and efficiency, those in the Control groups were more committed to their groups than were those in the Stigmatized groups. This study contributes to the large literature on stigma by examining one kind of stigma. It also contributes to several established literatures in social psychological theory. This study has implications for the power of the social construction of stigma and consequently for the power of social construction in the dismantling of stigma.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Auburn University, 2008. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 102-122).